Posted!

Join the Conversation

Comments

Welcome to our new and improved comments, which are for subscribers only.
This is a test to see whether we can improve the experience for you.
You do not need a Facebook profile to participate.

You will need to register before adding a comment.
Typed comments will be lost if you are not logged in.

Please be polite.
It's OK to disagree with someone's ideas, but personal attacks, insults, threats, hate speech, advocating violence and other violations can result in a ban.
If you see comments in violation of our community guidelines, please report them.

'Warrior pilot' recalls shooting down Japanese kamikazes at end of World War II

As a young Marine fighter pilot, Lowell "Red" Truex, 95, shot down Japanese kamikaze planes in the waters off Okinawa. More than 70 years later, the Pensacola resident's vivid war memories remain.

Attacks from the Japanese suicide pilots were nonstop in the months before the war's end when Truex and his squadron mates arrived to relieve a squadron of war-hardened pilots.

"We relieved guys who needed to be relieved, I think they were pretty psychologically bent from the experience. Those guys were amazingly tired and some of us got that way pretty quick," said Truex, whose F4U Corsair squadron flew in formation above U.S. destroyers to protect against the kamikaze attacks.

The island of Okinawa, where Truex was based, was under constant attack.

"When I wasn't in a plane, I was in a foxhole," he said. "Every day, every night, we were shooting down kamikazes."

During one mission, he had to bale out over the China Sea because of mechanical problems with his plane. Truex spent more than 24 hours in rough seas trying to stay afloat on a raft. His flare gun didn't have flares, and he used a mirror to signal for help. The rough seas prevented immediate rescue.

"The seas were extremely rough, huge swells, 17-knot winds," said Truex, who choked up while talking about the seaplane crew who eventually came to his rescue after he had drifted for more than 120 miles.

"I get a little emotional because I never got to thank those crew members, it is a void in my life. When they came out the next day and found me, I was just about a goner," he said.

The Indiana native grew up on a farm as one of eight children. One of his older brothers died fighting in Germany during World War II.

Truex, nicknamed Red because of his red hair, hadn't flown before enlisting in the Marines. Truex said his instructors often thought he was too young to be in the military at first glance.

"They would give me a second look, because I looked like a little kid," said Truex, who was sometimes called "Little Red" by his Marine buddies.

Despite having no aviation experience, Truex said, he was a natural at flying.